Topic 1b: The Movement of PeopleStage 5 Syllabus Key Inquiry Questions:
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Last lesson we learnt about the experiences and reactions of convicts in Australia.
For today's lesson we will focus on the migration of Free Settlers to Australia. Using a variety of sources we will investigate the changes that occurred to their way of life and their experiences on arrival. As you navigate through the lesson make sure you answer and submit the "Check your Learning" sections. These are mandatory and will be marked. Once you have finished this lesson you can complete Activity Four. In Activity Four you will create an illustrated mind map on Bubbl.us. |
Free Settlers
From the beginning of European settlement in 1788, most people who have come to Australia have done so in search of a new and better life. Early settlers were pushed from their home countries by a combination of economic necessity, natural disasters and conflict, but they have also been drawn to Australia by it's promise. From the time of the First Fleet, free settlers chose to come to Australia. They found ways of paying for their journey and establishing themselves in their new homes. In the early years of each colony, many of these people became the first landowners, establishing pastoral properties that were to form the basis of the country's thriving wool industry.
Examining the Evidence: Conditions in England
The background to the idea of convict transportation and the emigration of free settlers is to be found in changes in Britain and Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. The agricultural and industrial revolutions, combined with the growth in populations, led to an increase in crime and poverty. The industrial revolution saw new approaches to manufacturing and the steam engine paved the way for the development of steam powered machines including the locomotive, spinning and weaving machines, pumps to assist mining and smelters to process ores.
A vast unskilled labour force was required to support this new industrial economy. Working conditions were terrible and there were no laws to stop child labour. No laws meant children as young as six were employed in the mines and factories. They could fit into small places and climb under machines and worked in great danger.
The new approaches to food production meant many farmers were displaced as machines took their jobs. This caused a great migration of people from rural areas into the towns and cities. This resulted in overcrowding and unhealthy living conditions. For many of the poor in these industrial cities, as well as the displaced in rural areas, emigration provided an outlet.
A vast unskilled labour force was required to support this new industrial economy. Working conditions were terrible and there were no laws to stop child labour. No laws meant children as young as six were employed in the mines and factories. They could fit into small places and climb under machines and worked in great danger.
The new approaches to food production meant many farmers were displaced as machines took their jobs. This caused a great migration of people from rural areas into the towns and cities. This resulted in overcrowding and unhealthy living conditions. For many of the poor in these industrial cities, as well as the displaced in rural areas, emigration provided an outlet.
Step 5: Watch: Slideshow "The Industrial Revolution".
Watch: Video: The Industrial Revolution
Assisted Migration
From the 1820s, a range of schemes were developed to attract and assist immigrants. In 1822, the government of New South Wales began paying or subsidising the passage of free settlers - this was called assisted migration.
South AustraliaThe colony of South Australia, established in 1836, was based on a plan developed by E.G. Wakefield. Land was to be sold at a higher price than in the other colonies and the money earned was to be used to bring out assisted migrants who would work for wages. One of the essential elements of the plan was the colony should be for free settlers only and that there should be no convict labour. By 1835, enough land had been sold to finance migration to the colony.
In the late 1830s, a new program known as the Bounty Scheme was developed. Landowners or business owners would pay the passage of a labourer or sometimes a whole family. In return, the migrant would work for the employer for two to five years to pay back the cost of the journey. On a property or farm, the assisted migrant would be provided with food and lodging and sometimes a token income, till the passage was paid. |
CHECK YOUR LEARNING #1
Female Migrants
In the earliest years of the colony, men outnumbered women by three to one. Apart from convict women, most female migrants were the wives, daughters or sisters of male settlers. As the government and bounty schemes developed from the 1820s, there was a push to attract female free settlers to the colonies. As well as supplying much needed labour as domestic servants, factory and farm workers.
One of the schemes in the 1830s was run by the London Emigration Committee. This scheme lasted for four years and was responsible for bringing nearly 3000 women to Sydney. In it's advertising committee it appealed for "unmarried women or widows; must be between 18 and 30 years of age and must be in good health and character".
There were limited arrangements to accommodate the women on their arrival in Sydney. Many had no choice but to stay in cheap, unsuitable and often unsafe lodgings where they were vulnerable to all sorts of exploitations.
Gaining employment was also hard, some gained domestic posts with families, but many were 'employed' by single men including ex-convicts, who took advantage of them. Some of those who could not gain employment turned to theft or prostitution to survive.
One of the schemes in the 1830s was run by the London Emigration Committee. This scheme lasted for four years and was responsible for bringing nearly 3000 women to Sydney. In it's advertising committee it appealed for "unmarried women or widows; must be between 18 and 30 years of age and must be in good health and character".
There were limited arrangements to accommodate the women on their arrival in Sydney. Many had no choice but to stay in cheap, unsuitable and often unsafe lodgings where they were vulnerable to all sorts of exploitations.
Gaining employment was also hard, some gained domestic posts with families, but many were 'employed' by single men including ex-convicts, who took advantage of them. Some of those who could not gain employment turned to theft or prostitution to survive.
Caroline Chisholm
An improvement to the situation of immigrant women came with the arrival of Caroline Chisholm in 1838. Chisholm became aware of the appalling conditions in which many young women were living in The Rocks district of Sydney and took matters into her own hands. She began appealing to Governor Gipps for a building in which to house immigrant women. Not put off by his initial refusal, she persisted and was eventually rewarded with the use of a large but rat-infested shed. Within months the shed had become home to 100 women. Over the next few years, Chisholm opened a further 16 hostels to house immigrant women and ease their transition to colonial life.
Caroline's work extended beyond housing. She taught skills to the immigrant girls and assisted them to find postings that were safe and adequately paid. In some cases, when young women were to be employed on country properties and farms, she actually "accompanied them to their places and left them there with the earnest admonition to the heads of each family to be careful of those whom she regarded as her children" (Roger Therry, 1862).
Caroline's work extended beyond housing. She taught skills to the immigrant girls and assisted them to find postings that were safe and adequately paid. In some cases, when young women were to be employed on country properties and farms, she actually "accompanied them to their places and left them there with the earnest admonition to the heads of each family to be careful of those whom she regarded as her children" (Roger Therry, 1862).
Step 6: Watch: Click the below image to watch a short documentary on Caroline Chisholm:
As you watch I would like you to think about how the young migrants would have felt in the new colony.
DEMONSTRATE YOUR LEARNING #2